Miracle mutt with mutilated mug to go under knife

The muzzle-less mongrel named Kabang, celebrated around the world for saving two girls in the Philippines, is being readied for her final facial surgery in Davis later this month.
The surgery, which is expected to at least make the dog’s ghastly wound look better, should be the last of an unprecedented series of treatments on a pooch that not long ago was slated to be carved up and eaten by her Filipino master.

Kabang's family loves her despite her wound

On March 5, Kabang had two premolar teeth removed and her left eyelid reconstructed by oral surgeons Boaz Arzi and Frank Verstraete at the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in Davis. The “hero dog” had earlier been spayed, cured of a cancer known as transmissible venereal tumor and successfully treated for a bad case of heart worm after being flown 7,000 miles to California for what was supposed to be just a face fix.
“She now is resting and healing from that surgery,” said Patricia Bailey, the spokeswoman for UC Davis. “Her facial surgery to close the gaping wound on her face is slated for later in March. It’s anticipated that it will take about two weeks for her to heal from that surgery.”
The celebrated canine lost half her face when she reportedly ran into the path of a speeding motorcycle just as it was about to hit two young girls crossing a roadway in Zamboanga City. The lunge, by all accounts, prevented death or serious injury to the daughter and niece of Kabang’s owner, but the motorcycle’s spokes sheared off the dog’s snout and upper jaw.
Word of Kabang’s heroic exploits spread around the world, and a remarkable grassroots campaign started after photographs of her gruesome injury began to circulate. She was brought to the veterinary hospital after donations from 20 countries poured in, enough to pay for the expensive treatment. Her airfare was comped by the Philippine Airline Foundation, ground transportation was provided by Global Animal Transport and Hallmark Inn donated a room.
Facebook and Twitter accounts, the website careforkabang.com and pet lovers’ blogs, many of which have considerable followings in San Francisco and around the Bay Area, were an integral part of the effort.
The miracle mutt, found as a puppy in a swamp by a local farmer and laborer who saw her then as a food source, is now at a Davis medical boarding facility. Kabang, which means “spotty” in the Visayan language of her owner, is expected to be sent home in May or June.
The U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, which just opened a new $58.5 million veterinary research building, is updating Kabang’s progress at http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/small_animal/kabang/timeline.cfm.